Spotlight Reviews

I was given the opportunity to try some synthetic Bow Hair from Coruss. I have used synthetic hair in the past with pretty positive results. I was sent the hair from the company directly and had it installed on two different bows. One is a Glasser bow while the other is my very nice Arcus M4. The luthier had no problem installing the hair and I tested it out for about a month to make sure I was able to really find all of the nuances of the bow hair.

Before digging any deeper here is a little form the company and what they say about the hair.

Reliability: Unlike horsehair, Coruss is very durable. It's innate resistance to heat and humidity slow its lengthening, allowing a rehair to last approximately twice as long as horse hair.

Preservation: Do you keep a spare hank in case an emergency rehair is needed when travelling? Coruss won't degrade like horsehair when stored for long periods.

Strength: Coruss doesn't break under normal use.

Tone: In blind tests, even professional musicians can't distinguish Coruss from horsehair . When informed which is playing, 85% preferred Coruss, whilst 100% believed Coruss produced a much more articulate sound.

Ethically sourced: Coruss bow hair uses no animal products.

Clarity of sound: Coruss is capable of producing subtle dynamics without any tonal distortion.

Practicality: Coruss is strung in exactly the same way as horsehair.

Choice of colour: Coruss is available in the following White, Black, Red, Blue, Pink, Green, Orange

I was only sent the standard hair which is almost transparent and looks very nice. The strength of the hair I can account for as within the month not a single hair broke from the bow. One of the biggest issues I had in the past with synthetic hair was that is constantly was stretching making it impossible to use after a long day of teaching. Coruss completely fixes that issue. I had no problem with the hair being tight for many hours on end. Even after the month it still seems to have the exact same flexibility as it did the first day.

The tone and clarity took me a little while to find. When I first started I would get a big sound but there was a constant hiss from the hair moving across the strings. I contacted the company and was told that "Coruss hair is smoother than horsehair; consequently, rosins with less grip can take longer to apply when compared to use with horsehair. Using Pops rosin as a base rosin for the first few strokes coats the hair allowing you to apply your usual rosin in less time. "

I was a bit weary of using Pops Bass rosin on a bow I use for my violin but tried it anyway. WOW was I surprised. Just with a small amount of Pops followed by Andrea A Piacere gave a tone matching regular hair if not with a little bigger sound.

My only trouble with this is the amount of time between needing to re-rosin the bow. In the past I would only need to rosin every few days but with the amount of hours per day I teach and play I am needing to re-rosin a couple times per day. It's not a big issue as it only takes a few seconds but definitely something I needed to get used to.

I would highly recommend this bow hair for anyone out there. The hair can be purchased here but I would double check with your local luthier to make sure they are willing to install it. When I first went to install synthetic hair I was turned away from three places because they "...don't use fake hair." If you are having trouble finding someone who will work with non-traditional hair you can always send the bow in and they will install it for you.